3D Print Your Own Board Game With Pocket Tactics

Board games are ridiculously fun. I’m not talking about kiddy fare like “Monopoly” or “Sorry” here, but the real board games like “Betrayal at House on the Hill” and “Monsters Menace America.” Unfortunately, these games usually cost anywhere between $60 and $120 due to the large amount of plastic pieces. What’s a poor board game fan who just wants to play a simple strategy game to do?

Such a scenario is where Pocket Tactics comes in. The game bills itself as “a fast-paced, modular strategy board game that all fits inside a tiny bag.” What’s even better is that the entire game, including all the pieces and dice, are made with a 3D printer.

Wired got a chance to talk to the designer of Pocket Tactics, Arian Croft. He said that he and his team at Ill Gotten Games had been working on a role playing game system for the past seven years, but it wasn’t until he discovered 3D printers that things really took off. He even quit his job in the lucrative medical field to focus on designing games full time.

Even better, Croft and his team have made their game entirely open source. They invite fans and interested parties alike to design new game pieces or change existing ones in the Tinkercad program. You can also download and print the current pieces for free off of Thingiverse.

I’m surprised that it took this long for board games to start popping up in 3D printing circles. The price and limited availability of some board games will definitely drive some people to create their own. 3D printing will continue to appeal to nerds, including the voracious tabletop variety, if it leads to more creations like Pocket Tactics.